Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made a strong pitch for united action against terrorism and extremism by countries, including among BRICS, without discriminating between groups, or countries, sponsors or targeted nations. He also proposed a slew of steps, including a film festival and football, to boost cooperation among the BRICS members.

Modi, addressing the BRICS plenary session, said peace and stability were the bulwarks of progress and prosperity and it was the responsibility of countries to unitedly combat terrorism and extremism.

“We should unitedly combat terrorism and extremism, without any discrimination between groups, or countries, sponsors or targeted countries,” Modi said at the plenary, attended by the leaders of the other four partners – Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma.

His remarks came a day after he raised with China’s Xi India’s concerns over Beijing blocking New Delhi’s move for action in the UN against Pakistan over the release of 26/11 mastermind and LeT terrorist Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

“We must do this in BRICS as well as UN Security Council and in other groups of nations,” Modi said in his address in Hindi.

Modi also said all major countries should take decisions based on consensus, collaboration and cooperation and that international rules and norms should be upheld.

Modi also proposed 10 steps – “Das Kadam” – for the future of BRICS.

These include a BRICS trade fair, a railway research centre, cooperation among supreme audit institutions, a digital initiative, an agricultural research centre, a forum of state/local governments among the BRICS nations, cooperation among cities in the field of urbanisation, a sports council and an annual sports meet, the first major project of New Development Bank to be in the field of clean energy and a film festival.

Modi, in his address to the BRICS Business Council and the plenary, proposed India could host the inaugural trade fair next year as well as the football event.

India will host the summit in 2016.

He also proposed a BRICS film festival and film awards, which he said would give a boost to film making and people-to-people contact.

He said the Economic Cooperation Strategy, which includes a number of social initiatives, was a milestone in BRICS 2015 evolution.

He also pointed to the urgent need for UN Security Council reforms.

“Whatever is the nature of challenge – political, social, and economic – we will be more effective in addressing them if we complete the reforms of the UN, especially its Security Council, within a fixed time frame. These reforms are urgently required, if the global institution is to retain its role and relevance in the 21st century,” he said.

Modi also thanked the grouping for making the International Yoga Day on June 21 a success.

“BRICS can be a pillar of hope in a world facing many challenges, its initiatives are not just for itself but for the world,” he said.

Addressing the BRICS Business Council earlier, Modi also took a swipe at “unilateral sanctions” which he said were hurting the global economy.

His comment was seen as a swipe at the West for its sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

Sujata Mehta, secretary (MER) in the external affairs ministry, said it was “India’s position that sanctions of any nature should be approved by the UNSC, and those that are not are not sanctions that we adhere to or accept”.

Modi later held bilateral meetings with Rousseff and Zuma. He had met Putin and Xi on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Modi held a bilateral meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Paradise Papers expose tax haven secrets of ultra-wealthy, including Queen Elizabeth. The details come from a leak of 13.4 million files that expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive - and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth. VOA

London, November 6, 2017 : A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy including Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s private estate secretly invest vast amounts of cash in different offshore tax havens, media reports said on Monday.

The details come from a leak of 13.4 million files in the Paradise Papers on Sunday that expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive – and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth.

The material which has come from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens was obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with 100 other media organisations including the Guardian, the BBC and The New York Times.

Some of the revelations in the Paradise Papers include millions of pounds from Queen Elizabeth II’s private estate that has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund and some of her money that went to a retailer accused of exploiting poor families and vulnerable people.

Paradise Papers detail extensive offshore dealings by US President Donald Trump’s cabinet members advisers and donors including substantial payments from a firm co-owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law to the shipping group of the US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

The leak shows how social media giants Twitter and Facebook received millions in investments that can be traced back to Russian state financial institutions along with aggressive tax avoidance by multinational corporations including Nike and Apple.

It also includes information about a tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust managed by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief wealth manager.

The leak also includes how some of the biggest names in the film and TV industries protect their wealth with an array of offshore schemes and the complex offshore webs used by two Russian billionaires to buy stakes in Arsenal and Everton football clubs.

The disclosures will put pressure on world leaders including Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May who have both pledged to curb aggressive tax avoidance schemes.

The publication of this investigation for which more than 380 journalists have spent a year combing through data that stretches back 70 years comes at a time of growing global income inequality.

Offshore finance is about a place outside of one’s own nation’s regulations to which companies or individuals can reroute money assets or profits to take advantage of lower taxes reports the BBC.

These jurisdictions are known as tax havens to the layman or the more stately offshore financial centres (OFCs) to the industry. They are generally stable secretive and reliable often small islands but not exclusively so and can vary on how rigorously they carry out checks on wrongdoing. (IANS)

Security personnel stand guard after the opening session of China's 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. VOA

Beijing, October 18: At the opening of a top-level political meeting Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a sober assessment of the challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy and its ruling Communist Party, laying out an ambitious vision that stretches forward to the middle of this century and pledging to build what he called a “modern socialist country” for a “new era.”

In a nearly three-and-a-half hour speech at the opening session of the 19th Party Congress, Xi spoke confidently about the country’s future and its opportunities. He also stressed that an increasingly strong Communist Party would continue to chart the path forward.

But such an effort is not without its challenges.

Xi has overseen a massive anti-corruption drive since rising to power five years ago, which has punished more than one million officials and led to the downfall of several high-ranking party members as well. He said the fight against corruption will always be in progress and is still the party’s biggest threat.

In his speech, he spoke frequently about the struggles China’s leadership faces, mentioning the word “struggle” more than two dozen times.

Growing demands

Xi said the demands of China’s near 1.4 billion people are becoming increasingly broad.

“Not only have their material and cultural needs grown; demands for democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice, security, and a better environment are also increasing each day,” he said.

But much like other topics Xi spoke about in his address, which left some struggling to stay awake and hungry as it pushed past noon, it was unclear how China’s ruling party would do just that.

Although the Chinese leader mentioned growing demands for democracy, he made it clear that no major political reforms were on the horizon.

“A political system cannot be criticized abstractly without consideration for social and political circumstances, and historical cultural traditions. It cannot look up to one man as the highest authority or blindly copy foreign political systems without regard for specific conditions,” Xi said.

Security personnel stands guard after the opening session of China’s 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. VOA

Tighter controls

Xi’s first five years as China’s top leader has been marked by an ever-increasing tightening of expression both online and in society. As Xi has sought to forward his vision for China, he has led a sweeping crackdown on civil society and locked up dissidents and lawyers.

He has shown little signs of loosening that grip. In fact, the 19th Party Congress is expected to further expand his power.

During the twice-a-decade gathering, China’s Communist Party rulers will reshuffle their leadership and install a new Politburo Standing Committee, a top group of leaders that will rule the country for the next five years. The body is expected to be filled with more members who are loyal to Xi and part of his faction within the party.

An attendee waits for passengers to board the Fuxing, China’s latest high-speed train with a sticker reads “Incredible, my country” parked at Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, China. VOA

Economic development

On the economy, Xi said that China’s development is not a threat to any country and that it would continue to open its doors to foreign companies. He said that China would expand access to its services sector and deepen market-oriented reforms while strengthening state-owned companies.

In his speech, Xi tried to balance his emphasis on socialism and state control with promises of fair play towards foreign companies who can bring in the new and innovative technologies his government eagerly wants.

“All businesses registered in China will be treated equally,” he said while promising to “protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.”(VOA)

Sushma Swaraj’s statement assumes significance as it comes after the unprecedented BRICS Summit joint statement earlier this month in which Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa unequivocally named Pakistan and the terror groups based there

India on Thursday condemned support systems for terrorists in South Asia while expressing concern over South Asia’s nuclear program

Sushma Swaraj’s statement is significant since it comes after the BRICS Summit where many countries unequivocally named Pakistan and the terrorist groups based there

Sushma Swaraj also sought cooperation for early conclusion of negotiations and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism

New York, Sep 22, 2017: In an obvious reference to Pakistan, India on Thursday condemned support systems for terrorists in South Asia while expressing concern over North Korea’s nuclear and weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

“The horror of terrorism continues to haunt global peace and security. Terror groups draw sustenance from support systems in South Asia,” Sushma Swaraj said while speaking at the BRICS Ministerial Meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly Session here.

“They continue to find support and shelter in countries which use terrorism as an instrument of state policy.

“We must condemn efforts, including by states, to use religion to justify, sustain and sponsor terrorism against other countries,” she added.

Sushma Swaraj’s statement assumes significance as it comes after the unprecedented BRICS Summit joint statement earlier this month in which Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa unequivocally named Pakistan and the terror groups based there.

“There is need for collective efforts to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movement,” she said, calling for terrorist funding, their weapons supply, training and political support to “be systematically cut off”.

Sushma Swaraj also sought cooperation for early conclusion of negotiations and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN Security Council.

On North Korea’s recent offensive military posturing, she said: “The action and rhetoric of North Korea has been a source of growing global concern.”

She also touched on climate change and referred to Indian Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s suggestion of an alliance between the India-initiated International Solar Alliance and the New Development Bank, a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS nations.

“I hope we can work together to give this ambitious agenda practical shape in coming months,” she said.

The International Solar Alliance, launched at the UN Conference of Parties (CoP) climate summit in Paris on November 30, 2015, by Prime Minister Modi and then French President Francois Hollande, is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.

It is open to all 121 prospective member countries falling between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. (IANS)